


Eggs

by apolesen



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alien Biology, Bajoran and Cardassian Reproduction, Fluff, Gen, Sex Education, Uncle-Niece Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 13:56:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18389771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apolesen/pseuds/apolesen
Summary: 'Uncle Kelas, what do Bajoran eggs look like?'





	Eggs

‘Uncle Kelas?’ 

Parmak looked up from his book. Zeetal was standing there, clutching her Bajoran doll. Her glasses had slid down her nose and she tipped her head back to look through them. 

‘Yes?’ 

‘You know things?’ 

Parmak laughed and closed his book. 

‘Some things, I suppose.’ 

She sat down beside him on the sofa, taking care to place her doll on her lap. 

‘Do you know things about Bajorans?’ 

‘I do,’ Parmak said. ‘What were you wondering about?’ 

Zeetal pushed her glasses up her nose, thought for a moment and then asked: 

‘What do Bajoran eggs look like?’ 

Parmak felt his shock show on his face, but Zeetal did not seem to notice. 

‘Because Nari – she’s my friend at school – says they have little ridges, like they have on their noses, and I don’t believe that.’ 

‘Yes, it’s a little more complicated than that,’ Parmak said. He put the book aside, turned to face her a little and folded his hands. ‘Has your mother explained where eggs come from, Zeetal?’ 

‘She told me they come out of the ground,’ she said. ‘But I know that’s not true. We talked about it in school.’ 

‘Oh?’ Parmak was not sure if this was a lesson or another odd idea from her friends. ‘Did your teacher talk about it?’ 

Zeetal nodded excitedly. 

‘Yes! Mrs Tomak is a good teacher. She knows _lots_.’ 

‘What did she say?’ he asked. 

‘She said that eggs come out of married ladies. It’s like doing a poo, but not really. She said it’s _much_ more difficult. And she has five children, so she knows.’ 

‘Alright,’ Parmak said, grateful that at least one teacher on Prime was sensible about teaching about reproduction, even if she made it sound like wedlock was necessary. ‘So, Bajoran women don’t lay eggs. They keep them inside their bodies.’ 

Zeetal looked mystified. Then her eyes grew. 

‘What happens when it hatches?’ 

‘It’s not really an egg,’ Parmak said quickly. ‘Look, can you hand me that PADD? That might be easier.’ 

She handed him the PADD lying on the coffee table. 

‘Right.’ Parmak got his stylus out and put the PADD in drawing mode. ‘Do you know what the inside of an egg looks like?’ 

Zeetal looked uncertain. He decided to save her from admitting her ignorance. 

‘So, this is an egg.’ He drew a rough oval. ‘That’s the shell. Then just inside the shell, there are membranes. Do you remember when Ret hatched and was covered in something like a thin sticky sheet?’ 

‘Yes,’ Zeetal said, the memory coming back to her. ‘That stuff was icky.’ 

‘Well, those are membranes.’ He drew another oval inside the first. ‘Now, the hatchling needs something to eat, and that’s the yolk.’ He added a circle in the middle. ‘So the hatchling grows close to it. When it hatches, the yolk is all gone, because it’s been eaten.’ When he added the rough shape of an embryo, he saw Zeetal frown. ‘That’s what the hatchling looks when it’s very small.’ Then he shaded the area around the yolk. ‘And this is called the albumen. It protects the hatchling.’ It was a simplified explanation, but it would do. ‘Does that make sense?’ 

Zeetal looked at the drawing for a moment, then nodded. 

‘Yes.’ 

‘Good.’ Parmak paused to collect him thoughts. Explaining the basics of viviparity was not straight-forward. ‘Zeetal, do you know what an oviduct is?’

She shook her head. 

‘It’s the organ in a woman’s body where the egg forms,’ he explained. Zeetal considered this. 

‘Do I have one?’ 

‘Yes. But it’s not doing much yet.’ That was a discussion for another day, and maybe one that her mother should have, not he. Parmak was already worried he might be overstepping by explaining this to her, but if his sister was still telling Zeetal that eggs came out of the ground, that had to be rectified. ‘Anyway. For Bajorans, it works differently.’ He moved his sketch of the egg to the side and drew a rough anterior view of a Bajoran uterus. ‘They have something like an oviduct, but instead of it creating an egg, the child stays there until it’s ready to live on its own. That takes five months.’ 

‘Five months?’ Zeetal repeated. ‘That’s ages! And the mum just has to carry it around?’ 

‘Yes.’

‘That’s very impractical.’ 

‘You could see it that way,’ Parmak said. ‘But also, you’re not going to mislay it.’ He returned to his drawing. ‘So, there’s no shell inside the mother, but there are membranes that keep everything together. Inside that there is a liquid, a bit like albumen. That helps to protect the baby.’ 

‘So it just swims around inside?’ Zeetal giggled at the thought. ‘How does it breathe?’ 

‘Bajoran babies don’t breathe until they’ve been born - when they come out of the mother. They get oxygen the same way they get nutrition.’ 

‘Through the yolk,’ Zeetal said, eager to show that she had been listening. 

‘Actually, no. But good job. Bajorans don’t have a yolk, but something called a placenta. So, here are the membranes, and inside there is the liquid. The baby is here.’ He drew it as his niece leaned closer. 

‘It’s all folded up,’ she said. ‘Or are you just not good at drawing babies?’ 

‘No, it’s folded up,’ Parmak said with a smile. ‘Like a hatchling in an egg.’ He drew the placenta. ‘The difference between the placenta and the yolk is that the placenta is attached to the mother, and the baby is attached to the placenta.’ 

Zeetal frowned. 

‘How?’ 

He thought about how to explain it, then gestured towards her doll. 

‘Your doll.’ 

‘Her name is Cerin,’ Zeetal said. 

‘I’m sorry. Cerin,’ he said, looking at the doll, then back at Zeetal. ‘Does Cerin have an umbilicus?’ Just as he said it, he realised he had used the technical word, borrowed from Bajoran. ‘A belly-button,’ he clarified. 

‘What is that?’ Zeetal asked. 

‘It’s a little scar that every Bajoran has on their tummy. So, here is the baby and here is the placenta. And between them, there’s a tube that gives the baby everything it needs.’ He added the umbilical cord. ‘So when the baby has come out, you cut it off and it heals into a tiny little scar. A bit like a dimple.’ 

‘Weird,’ Zeetal said. She picked up her doll and pulled up its shirt. ‘No. No button.’ She put it on her lap again. ‘So how do they get out?’ she asked. ‘They don’t have egg-teeth, do they?’ 

Parmak could not help but laugh. 

‘No, they don’t,’ he said. ‘They come out like an egg does, only instead of laying an egg, the mother lays a child.’ 

‘Huh.’ Zeetal looked at the drawings in fascination. Then she looked at her uncle again. ‘But _why_?’ 

Parmak shrugged. 

‘It’s just how things ended up.’ 

‘I think eggs are easier. They’re less weird.’ 

‘A Bajoran might say the same thing of the way they grow.’ 

Zeetal shrugged. 

‘Maybe.’ They sat in silence for a moment. Then she looked up at him. ‘Thank you. I learned a lot.’ 

‘You’re welcome.’ He put aside the PADD and folded his hands. ‘You know you can talk to me, right? If there are things you don’t want to ask your parents about.’ 

She nodded. 

‘Good,’ he said. 

Zeetal looked a little confused at this sudden earnestness, but smiled. She stood up. 

‘I’m going to go find mother’s sewing kit,’ she said. ‘If she has a spare button, will you help me glue it onto Cerin’s tummy?’ 

Parmak smiled broadly, resisting the urge to pull her into a hug and embarrass her. 

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘I’d be very happy to.’ 

‘Good.’ She left, clutching Cerin to her. Parmak picked up his book, but did not open it yet. He allowed himself to sit in silence, marvelling at the wonder of children.


End file.
